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(CNN) - A giant salamander that once lived in the London Zoo and then exhibited in the Natural History Museum represents a new species that may be the world's largest amphibian.
This finding is part of a broader discovery about the diversity of Chinese giant salamanders, which separates what was once considered a single species into three different species. A study detailing the new species was published Monday in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
The giant salamanders once lived in central, southern and eastern China. The Andrias davidianus species, known as the giant Chinese salamander, has a length of 3.7 feet (112 centimeters) and weighs 110 pounds (almost 50 kilos). Now, wild populations are critically depleted. Learning more about them could help save salamanders, the researchers said.
Giant chinese salamander
The researchers studied 17 museum specimens and tissue samples from wild salamanders. It was then that they met Andria sligoi, the giant salamander of southern China, for the first time, despite the fact that the specimen had resided in a museum for 74 years.
During the 1920s and 1930s, when the salamander was still alive, he lived at the Zoological Society Zoo in London for 20 years. At that time, it was considered an unusual salamander, but the idea was abandoned.
The new study confirms that it is different from other salamanders and represents the largest amphibian in the world, which can grow to almost 6 feet long (182 centimeters). That makes it bigger than about 8,000 amphibians on the planet today.
His research also divides the unique species of giant salamanders into three: davidianus, sligoi and a third species that has not yet been named. The third species is known only from tissue samples.
Each species was found to be exclusive to a different river system or mountain range in China and they were very different from each other genetically.
"Our analysis reveals that Chinese giant salamander species diverged between 3.1 and 2.4 million years ago," said Samuel Turvey, lead author of the study at the Zoological Institute of the Zoological Society of London. "These dates correspond to a period of mountain formation in China, as the Tibetan plateau rose rapidly, which could have isolated populations of giant salamanders and led to the evolution of different species in different landscapes."
Historically, giant salamanders were used for medicinal and food purposes in southern China, according to the study. The species was exploited when populations using the giant salamander moved, creating a trade in the luxury food market. Demand also led to a massive agricultural industry.
A wild giant Chinese salamander
"The decrease in the number of wild Chinese giant salamanders has been catastrophic, mainly due to the recent overexploitation of food," Turvey said. "We hope that this new understanding of the diversity of its species has arrived in time to support its successful conservation, but urgent measures are required to protect any viable population of giant salamanders that can last."
The giant Chinese salamander has been listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Agriculture and overexploitation have caused salamanders to be found in only four of the 97 sites in China. Salamanders often move to cattle farms, also for conservation reasons.
"Conservation plans must now be updated to recognize the existence of multiple species of giant salamanders, and the movement of these animals to reduce the risk of disease transfer, competition and genetic hybridization," said Turvey.
The London Zoo is home to four giant salamanders that were seized after someone tried to import them illegally in 2016.
"These findings occur at a time when urgent interventions are required to save giant Chinese salamanders in the wild," said Melissa Marr, author of the study and PhD researcher at the Natural History Museum in London. "Our results indicate that conservation measures must be established that preserve the genetic integrity of each different species."
Amphibians
